The Week in Netflix: HBO Cedes Emmy Crown; Q2 Sub Expectations High

Netflix Wins Emmy Nom Crown from HBO

TWIN: Netflix broke HBO’s 17-year reign as the network with the most Emmy nominations, snagging 112 nominations to HBO’s 108 in this year’s race.

MCN Take: With plans to launch 1,000 new movies and series this year alone, Netflix was bound to take the crown eventually on sheer volume. Among the SVOD pioneer’s nominated shows are Stranger Things,GLOW and The Crown, while HBO received nominations for Game of Thrones and Westworld, among others.

Subscriber Expectations High for Q2

MCN Take: After a blowout earnings report in April, Netflix added about $43 billion in market value, according to Bloomberg, with consensus estimates at 1.2 million U.S. customer additions and 5.06 million internationally, about even with company guidance.

Netflix Taken to Court in India Over Portrayal of Former PM

TWIN: Netflix was taken to court in India by a politician who has objected to the portrayal of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the series, Sacred Games, a thriller set in Mumbai with a cast of police officers, spies and politicians.

MCN Take: Nikhil Bhalla, a lawyer and member of the opposition Congress party, which Gandhi headed for seven years before his assassination in 1991, objected to the use of the word “fattu” to describe the former Prime Minister in the series. Fattu means “coward” in Hindi.

TWIN: The reality makeover series reboot is scheduled to begin production on its third season in Kansas City, Mo., on July 16. The show snagged Emmy nominations for the categories of structured reality program, casting, picture editing and cinematography.

MCN Take: The reboot, with co-hosts Antoni Porowski, Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Jonathan Van Ness, and Tan France will premier its third season in 2019. Already the series has caught on with audiences and has been a hit with critics.

Blast From the Past: Remember When Netflix Was Just DVDs?

TWIN: Reddit harkens back to ancient times, when dinosaurs roamed the earth and Netflix only sold DVDs, advertising them with oversized movie stubs sent to households via an Old-Timey precursor to streaming, the U.S. Postal Service.

This ancient artifact was found in a quick-thinking Redditor's parent's attic

MCN Take: A Redditor apparently found an old Netflix ad from 1999 (also known as the Pre-Streaming Period) in his parent’s attic. Note that the monthly charge was $20 – about twice what Netflix charges today for a basic streaming service.